Indian woman's ‘extremely creepy' online job hunt sparks concern about cyber harassment
The 'extremely creepy' experience of a female online job applicant in India has underscored growing cases of cyber harassment on the labour market despite strong laws, after the woman said she was questioned about her marital status by a recruiter and asked to send over a photo of herself.
Advertisement
She shared her ordeal on Reddit last month, expressing how the encounter left her 'disheartened'.
The post sparked several online comments, including one user who shared her own experience of how she 'kept ignoring the red flags because I was so desperate for the job', resulting in her getting molested and having to run for her life.
Another user advised the woman in the latest case to file a complaint against the company and recruiter, saying 'he's probably done it before and he'll do it again'.
The trend of online recruitment that increased during the Covid-19 pandemic has also brought to the fore different forms of harassment for women not only in India but also other parts of the world. Cyber abusers are lulled by a false sense of anonymity, with many being unaware that they can be tracked down digitally, experts warn.
Advertisement
Millions of women worldwide encounter online abuse such as sexual harassment and stalking, which needs to be tackled not only through laws and addressing data gaps, but also efforts to establish a culture of respect and empathy, according to a UN Women report in February this year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Standard
2 hours ago
- The Standard
Deadly stampede at India cricket celebrations
People gather to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru's first Indian Premier League (IPL) title win, outside a cricket stadium in Bengaluru, India, June 4, 2025. (Reuters)
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Several feared dead in India after stampede at cricket celebrations
A stampede broke out as a tightly packed crowd celebrated the sporting win of their home cricket team in the Indian city of Bengaluru, resulting in multiple deaths, local media reported on Wednesday. AFP could not immediately confirm the death toll, which India's NDTV broadcaster reported to have left at least 11 people dead. The Times of India newspaper reported seven dead. An AFP photographer saw an intense crush of crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets. Broadcasters showed police carrying young children in their arms rushing away from crowds, who had seemingly fainted. One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance, struggling to breathe. A boy lies unconscious following a stampede outside a cricket stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters Karnataka state's Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said he was not able to immediately confirm deaths.
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Vietnam plans tougher penalties to curb illegal sex selection amid rising birth gender gap
Vietnam is planning to impose stiffer penalties for gender-based sex selection in pregnancy, as the government scrambles to address a deepening imbalance in the country's birth sex ratio – one of the worst in Asia. A draft proposal from the health ministry would raise the maximum fine for such violations to 100 million Vietnamese dong (US$3,800), more than triple the current penalty. Offences covered include disclosing the sex of a fetus, performing or facilitating sex-selective abortions, prescribing methods for selecting a baby's gender and coercing or persuading someone to terminate a pregnancy based on the fetus' sex. The measure, part of the Population Bill now open for public consultation until June 12, aims to deter what authorities describe as a growing and illegal trend. 'This increase is necessary to ensure individuals and organisations think twice before engaging in such illegal acts,' the ministry said, according to state-linked media outlet VnExpress. A group of Vietnamese children gather around a photographer. Photo: AP Vietnam bans all forms of sex selection, but enforcement has long been patchy and penalties weak. The current maximum fine of 30 million dong has proven 'insufficient as a deterrent', according to the government's policy impact assessment of the bill.
